1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for pressing articles of clothing, more particularly, for pressing the body parts of shirts and work uniforms, wherein a molded body mounted over a support and consisting of an inflatable buck made of a pressure medium-resistant material is adapted to be advanced and retracted between heated pressing plates.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the case of a known device of the above-mentioned type (German AS No. 1,137,413) which is designed for pressing shirts, in particular, the shirt to be pressed is pulled onto an inflated buck provided with arm parts. The body portion and the arm parts of the inflated buck conform generally to the shape of the shirt to be pressed and are provided with known supporting means which enable the shirt to be pressed to be pulled onto the inflated buck when it is not inflated or when it is only slightly inflated.
In addition, to make it easier to pull the shirt to be pressed onto the inflated buck, the arm parts of the inflatable buck are hingedly mounted on the support for the inflatable buck. A disadvantage of this device is that it cannot be used for pressing waist-fitting articles of clothing which are fastened -- possibly by means of buttons. This is due, in particular, to the fact that, firstly, these articles of clothing cannot be pulled onto the inflated buck -- or at least not properly -- when the inflatable buck is uninflated or only partially inflated, and, secondly, the contour of the shoulders and/or side parts of the article of clothing is not drawn according to the cut of the article. If the shirt is not stretched according to the cut, it cannot be pressed correctly. This is especially true of the region of the side parts and the shoulders which extends from the waist to the part of the shoulder supported on the shirt support.
One of the reasons for the shirt not being stretched according to its cut and for the imperfect pressing of the shoulders and side parts is that the shirt to be pressed is stretched as a result of the inflatable buck being inflated.
It is also known (U.S. Pat. No. 2,698,705) to incorporate in the arm parts of an inflatable buck, elements which are secured to the shirt support and by means of which the arm parts can be stretched in their longitudinal direction.
Some of the known devices also have the disadvantage that the dimensions of the inflatable buck and the support over which it is mounted are such as to prevent shirts of different sizes from being pressed on the same molded body.
If articles other than shirts, such as work uniforms, are being pressed, the known devices are provided with inflatable covers which are adapted to the shape of these articles of clothing. All in all, these inflatable covers can only be designated as inflatable bucks. For this reason, to simplify matters, these inflatable covers will henceforth be designated as inflatable bucks.